Dinner in Juriquilla and the World's Largest Tequila Collection

Juriquilla Travel Blog

Original certificate from Guiness certifying the Worlds Largest Collection of Tequila -- now at 4,300 bottles!

Foo and I went with Enrique down to his parents' home in Juriquilla for dinner this night. Juriquilla is on the northern edge of Queretaro in Queretaro state, just south of San Miguel and the State of Guanajuato. It's about a 35 minute drive from San Miguel. We made a quick stop by Enrique's home first so he could say good night to his sons, Bernardo and Patricio. The boys are so cute! Patricio's nickname is "Pato" -- which is duck in Spanish. He loves to have his picture taken with a digital camera and then be able to see it right after it's been taken. Whenever he sees his picture, he yells "Pato!" and points at his picture with a big smile.

With Francisco -- indicating he is the number 1 tequila collector in the world!

We even got to meet the boys' bird, Gary. If you tell Gary to "baila" -- he dances back and forth on his perch. Pretty funny, and the boys loved it.

Enrique's parents' house sits on a hill overlooking a picturesque lake. The hill is mostly granite, and during the construction of the home, they carved a garage into the granite, as well as tunnels around it -- all of which is below the house. The tunnels lead to a wine cellar - - and to a room that has been certified by Guiness Book of World Records as the largest tequila collection in the world. Enrique's father has over 4,300 unique unopened bottles of tequila! Some of the bottles are quite old -- dating back to the 1920's and earlier. It's a very impressive collection and it continues to grow each year.

The 1904 bottle of French Margaux -- a gift from Charles de Gaulle, President of France

The room also has some mementos from bullfights at the local ring -- autographs from the torreadors, picadores and some mounted heads of famous bulls and the branding ribbons from the rancheros involved. It has a very real feeling of being in Mexico.

Foo got busy in the kitchen preparing a Thai feast for us all to enjoy. We had Lumpia (eggrolls), Pad Thai, Phuket Wonder and a Thai red curry -- and it was all delicious. Francisco allowed me to go to his wine cellar to choose any wine I wanted to go with dinner -- except the 1904 bottle of French Margaux. This bottle was a gift to Mexican President Lopez Mateos from the French President Charles DeGaulle in the 1960's. President Mateos gave it to the Governor of Guanajuato -- Francisco's father (Enrique's grandfather). I was so nervous just holding the bottle! I selected two French red wines to go with our dinner, and they paired very nicely with the food. Francisco taught Foo a new toast at dinner with the wine -- "Arriba, abajo, el centro, al dentro!" Translated, it roughly means "up high, down low, to the middle, and down the hatch!"

All too soon, it was time to bid farewell to our friends here in Juriquilla and to head back to San Miguel. We had a wonderful evening with our gracious hosts. It was so good to meet up with them again and to have the opportunity to introduce them to Foo and her Thai cuisine.